Some naysayers have told me that the aluminum tracker boats aren't very durable. One guy cautioned me that the trackers "don't take to being thumped into rocks well" and recommended G3's or Lowe's boats instead. Does anyone have a Tracker? Anyone have any bad experiences with the quality of Trackers? Any comments or input is appreciated.
P.S. I thank everyone for their responses to my "Jet Motor" post. I also apologize for posting so many questions but[ I really do appreciate everyone's help on my quest for a bass boat. I realize that I don't personally know you guys but I trust your input more than the boat salespeople.
G-3 makes a nice boat, a friend of mine has one of their alum., center consol boats with a jet. It's 18 or 19 feet, I don't remember which, and no I don't know how big the motor is, but he does run in down on the Susquehanna flats. As to Tracker, the thing I never liked is they advertise low prices on underpowered combo's. By the time you upgrade the outboards and other stuff you could buy a better grade rig, in my opinion. Kind of like a bait & switch operation to get you in the shop. I believe, also they have gone to an all welded hull, you'll have to verify that. The older, riveted hulls were not that great. All welded is the way to go in alum. Smokercraft, Crestliner, and Fisher (I had a 17' before going over to fiberglass) are pretty good also. LUND is top-of-the-line in alum.
I owned a Traker once and have no complaints about it. What I would caution you about is their service after the sale, it just does not exist. A better boat for you would be an Express. If it were me I would not buy a new boat. I would look around for a good used boat that fits my critera and buy it. You will get a lot more boat for a lot less money. I know, you probably think the warranty is worth the extra money, but believe me, it is not. IF you find a good boat that has no problems, and there are plenty of them around, you will be far better off.
Tracker I believe uses a thinner grade alum than most other boat builder... If you plan on using that boat in the harrisburg area and north you may want to look at these boats. Many of my buddies are using them with no problems and wack quite a few rocks.... Check out http://www.rockproofboats.com/ or http://www.snyderboats.com/
You may also want to check out the forum at www.riversmallies.com and look under the boat section, my buddy goes by the name of objet pa and is a jetboat guru....
My favorite aluminum boats are Crestliner. They make one heck of a solid boat. I don't think they have jets though.
i will be completely honest with you. Trackers, they are definately not as durable as any other brand. the thing you need to do is figure out how abusive you are going to be. if you are going to fish hard and aggresive and bump into things especailly rocks, tracker is not the right boat. if you are gonna be a less aggresive fisherman i would definately save the dough and buy a tracker. I do have a tracker jon boat and i will tell you that the aluminum is paper thin. i do only use this boat for certain reasons and applications but i do not recommend this boat to anyone. i also have a lowe jon boat and the thickness is twice as much as the tracker. in other words i dont believe that tracker is a quality rig for hard fisherman.
My cousin has a tracker pro jet 18'. when we are on plane, you can actually feel it flex and twist. i would definately go with a crestliner or lowe. as far as service for any brand good luck.